CHINA is building its military forces on its southeast coast in preparations for a possible invasion of Taiwan, military analysts have said.
The People’s Liberation Army has been upgrading its missile bases on the coast that faces the island nation of Taiwan. A China-based military source said the country had deployed its advanced hypersonic missile the DF-17 to the coastal region. Speaking to the South China Morning Post the source said: “The DF-17 hypersonic missile will gradually replace the old DF-11s and DF-15s that were deployed in the southeast region for decades.
“The new missile has a longer range and is able to hit targets more accurately.”
The hypersonic DF-17 missile has a maximum range of 1,550 miles.
Military analysts have said the Chinese marine corps and rocket force bases on the coast have expanded in recent years.
Editor-in-chief of the Canada-based Kanwa Defence Review Andrei Chang said: “Every rocket force brigade in Fujian and Guangdong is now fully equipped.